I can't believe a week has already gone by in DC. It's been crazy busy!
There's been too much going on this week to actually stop and write it all down. So here's the rundown starting from last Wednesday.
Wednesday, May 3
After work we headed down to Mr. Henry's for Wednesday night Jazz Jam. Mike was excited for the weekly Wednesday special, spaghetti. Last year we came to the jazz jam and loved it so much we made sure to come back. Dinner and a show in the middle of the week is a great idea.
The house band was of course fantastic. They play for about an hour before allowing players to sign up and join on stage for a song or more.
This is not karaoke. The players that sign up here are really good, so the great music just keeps on going. Each player gets to pick the song they want to play or sing. I had forgotten about an amazing rendition of Ray Charles' Georgia we heard last time until Armand from Cameroon walked up to the stage and started skat singing. Ray Charles' version is obviously the
best ever. Obviously. As amazed as I was by Herbert "The Hawk" Hawkins' version last year, this guy Armand was just as amazing. He could move his voice up and down in pitch and volume in a miraculous manner. We enjoyed a few other pieces and then headed home.
Thursday, May 4
Thursday morning I got to row in a double with Emmie. Bob sent me a video after our row yesterday. I'm flip catching. So really good to sit stroke in a double and work on blade placement.
I had no idea that James Marlow was in town but Mike had made plans for us to meet at Off the Record at the Hay Adams. This was very fitting as it was on the list of places he suggested we go last year.
James has been a great mentor to Mike and me as well. I'm always happy to see him and get his view on the world. We had a great time solving the world's problems over drinks at the historic bar. I was a bit tipsy when we left. A couple of pear martinis (I know what you're thinking, but damn they were good) got the better of me. Mike and I decided to make our way home to have chili and call it a night. Big day tomorrow.
Friday, May 5
Cinco de Mayo! Happy birthday, Rachel! The end of our first week has arrived. I got to row in a quad this morning with Becky, Stephanie, and Emmie. There was a beautiful moon over the water as we started. We headed downstream towards the Potomac, under the Frederick Douglas bridge, and then back up the channel. The water was beautiful. I was working on my blade placement and slowing my recovery, following Stephanie. We turned around and started a piece to work our way back. And then a submerged log took our skeg. We made it back the last 6k with some great effort from the whole boat and amazing bowing on Emmie's part.
Today is our tour of the Capitol! We both took a half day of work and walked over to the Cannon building at noon. Big thanks to my brother-in-law Chris who has a friend Eli who works in a Congressman's office. Mike and I are all gussied up for our time at the Capitol. We arrive to find that it's casual Friday while Congress is in recess. No worries. Always good to look good. Plus Nick assures us that the tour is better when session is in recess as there is access to places otherwise restricted.
Nick works in the office and was kind enough to take us on a tour.
From the Cannon building we walked through the underground tunnels to the Capitol. We pop out in the Crypt below the Capitol Visitor Center. Washington D.C. was planned to exacting detail with the Capitol at the center. Here in the Crypt is the center of DC, a mark in the floor at the dead center of the city.
Standing at the actual center of DC... CHECK!Next we headed up to the actual Visitor Center. It's a big open room lit from the giant skylights seen from our many walks up to the back side of the Capitol building. Walking passed the masses of people, we head to the Old House Chambers where a much smaller Congress met many years ago. There are marks on the floor where the desks of eventual Presidents sat, including Lincoln. Many statues and paintings. Hallways go in multiple directions (I'm already lost), and the ceilings are paintings themselves. Beautiful work of scenes of American history.
Nick sees a friend of his who works in the Majority Leader's office, and he takes over our tour. Nick hasn't seen this part of the Capitol himself, so we're all in for a treat. He shows us the Lincoln room, formerly a cloak room where Congressmen discussed issues of the day that eventually became a block of staffers' cubicles. Several years ago, it was restored to the period when Lincoln was in Congress.
Fine chairs sit next to a restored fireplace and period carpet lines the room. Our new guide points to an odd spot in the floor and then lifts a panel out. A stairwell appears under the floor. Are you kidding me? Am I National Treasure right now?
Fancy clothes and all we hop into the spiral staircase and walk down. It's dark and dingy and there are names all over the walls. Yep, we got to write our names on the Capitol. Super cool. There are several strange tunnels and walkways, although none quite like this one, all along the building.
Going into a secret passageway in the Capitol...CHECK!
After a quick peak at the Majority Leader's office we head to the Speaker's balcony and the best view of DC. From there is the old Senate Chambers, restored to a previous time as well. I don't think I was aware that the Supreme Court was housed in the Capitol early on. This room is restored to the time of the first sitting Court. Again, the room is really small. The gallery would hold just a couple dozen people. The tour wraps on the House floor, the current home of the House of Representatives. It at once seems enormous and undersized.
Really wonderful to see where our laws are argued and made. Though we aren't always happy with the outcomes, the grounds are still awe inspiring.
Just outside is Speakers' Alley, where portraits of every Speaker of the House hang, including Frederick Muhlenberg, the very first Speaker, front and center.
We made our way back through the old House Chamber and then the tunnels, along the way Mike saw a statue of Norman Bourlaug, a wonderful nod to the West Wing. After thanking our guides we walked over to Hawk 'N' Dove as you should after a good day on the Hill.
Hollis and Corey are coming to visit this evening. More on that next time!